The Assassin
Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Writer: T’ien-wen Chu
Producer: Wen-Ying Huang
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Ethan Ruan and Nikki Hsieh, with Ni Dahong, Zhang Shijun, Michael Chang, Jiang Wen, Zuo Xiaoqing, Xu Fan, Tadanobu Asano, Zhou Yunin
Flight of the Red Balloon broke Hou Hsiao-Hsien from his observational, paint-drying long aesthetic treatment and so when news first broke out many moons ago that the Taiwanese filmmaker would next make a martial arts film we naturally thought, this will be interesting. With muse actress Shu Qi toplining, the making of The Assassin might be deserving a film itself – the production (the first scenes were shot in 2010), which concluded in January lasted well over a year.
Gist: Based on a short story, this about a female assassin during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) who begins to question her loyalties when she falls in love with one of her targets.
Release Date: Cannes Film Festival.
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